The U.S. and South Korean militaries were wrapping up their annual drills six days earlier than initially scheduled on Friday (August 21, 2026) in a conciliatory gesture toward North Korea, though the North said the step isn’t enough to convince it to return to talks.

U.S. President Donald Trump had earlier abruptly ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises just before they began Monday (August 17). Mr. Trump cited what he described as a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s refusal to support him over the war in Iran.

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, brushed aside Mr. Trump’s overture on Wednesday (August 19), saying “the provocative, aggressive nature of the drills” won’t change only with the reduction of their duration and size.

The next day, North Korea fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea, apparently following through with its previous threat to respond to the U.S.-South Korean drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal.

The U.S. Pacific Command said the events didn’t pose an immediate threat to U.S. territory or its allies. The command said the U.S. remains committed to the defence of the U.S. homeland and its allies in the region.

Kim Yo Jong’s statement dampened hopes for an early resumption of talks between Mr. Trump and Kim Jong Un, whose earlier nuclear diplomacy collapsed in 2019.

Kim Jong Un has used the diplomatic stalemate to increase his leverage by modernising his nuclear and missile programmes and aligning with Russia over its war against Ukraine.

Kim Jong Un suggested last year that he won’t return to talks unless the U.S. drops its demand for North Korean denuclearisation as a precondition for diplomacy.

Kim Yo Jong still used relatively measured language, avoided typical harsh North Korean rhetoric and touched upon what she called an “excellent” relationship between her brother and Mr. Trump.

This suggests North Korea doesn’t want to completely shut the door for future talks and may seek to win bigger U.S. concessions, such as international recognition as a nuclear state and broad sanctions relief.

With its supply of ammunition and troops to Russia, North Korea is likely receiving economic and military assistance in return, and its expanding ties with Russia provides it with leverage to ask for greater support from China, its biggest trading partner.

“After this strategic play has run its course, Mr. Kim may seek further economic and reputational benefits from Washington,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “But that will probably be after the U.S. midterm elections when Mr. Trump is expected to be in a weaker domestic political position and in search of headline-grabbing foreign policies.”

Kim Dong-Yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said that Kim Yo Jong’s statement showed North Korea’s position that a personal relationship between her brother and Mr. Trump “can’t be a factor that moves current North Korean-U.S. relations”.

He said Kim Yo Jong likely aimed to head off speculation that Mr. Trump’s move can restore diplomacy so as not to fully take the blame when it doesn’t happen.

Kim Yo Jong denied Mr. Trump’s claim that Kim Jong Un had responded to his request for a conversation.

When asked by reporters Wednesday (August 19) if he would be meeting with Kim Jong Un this year, Donald Trump said, “Yeah, I will be.”

The Ulchi Freedom Shield is one of the main military exercises conducted by the U.S. and South Korea annually to enhance their ability to cope with potential North Korean aggression. Its downsizing has caused worries about joint U.S.-South Korean readiness.

North Korea on Wednesday (August 12, 2026) performed its second ballistic missile test in less than a week, its neighbors said, a likely protest of the upcoming South Korea-U.S. military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said a ballistic missile fired from the North’s eastern coastal Wonsan area around 6 a.m. flew more than 700 km. It said South Korea remains ready to repel any provocations by North Korea in cooperation with the United States.

South Korea’s Presidential national security council issued a statement urging North Korea to stop ballistic missile launches, which it said are “acts of provocation” that defy UN Security Council resolutions.

Multiple UN Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from launching ballistic missiles. But North Korea has ramped up ballistic and other weapons testing activities to expand its nuclear and missile arsenals since Kim’s high-stakes diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump fell apart in 2019. Experts say Kim likely hopes to use his enlarged arsenals to wrest concessions from the U.S., such as relaxing of international economic sanctions on the North.

Japan’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday (August 12) it also spotted a suspected ballistic missile launch from North Korea. It said it didn’t detect the weapon reaching Japan’s exclusive economic zone, suggesting it was believed to have fallen further away from the Japanese coast.

The latest launch came two days after South Korea and the United States announced they will kick off their annual large-scale military drills on Aug. 17 to beef up readiness against North Korean threats.

North Korea has previously responded to the Ulchi Freedom Shield training and other major South Korea-US military exercises with provocative weapons tests and harsh rhetoric. The US and South Korea have repeatedly said their training is defensive in nature.

After last year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield training exercises began, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the drills showed the US and South Korea’s “will to ignite a war” and claimed they have grown more provocative than before, which has prompted North Korea to respond with “proactive and overwhelming” countermeasures.

On Aug. 6, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan detected the launch of a short-range ballistic missile from North Korea in what was the North’s first ballistic weapons testing activity since late June. North Korea didn’t confirm the reported launch, though it usually releases details of weapons tests a day later.

In recent years, Mr. Kim has boosted his diplomatic footprint by strengthening cooperation with Russia by supplying troops and ammunition to support its war against Ukraine. He’s also recently taken steps to bolster ties with China, the country’s traditional ally and economic pipeline. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the North Korean capital Pyongyang in June for the first time in seven years.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed a test of a high-thrust, solid-fuel engine test and hailed it as a development to boost the country’s strategic military capability, state media reported on Sunday (March 29, 2026).

The test likely indicates Mr. Kim is intent on enlarging and modernising an arsenal of missiles capable of reaching the United States mainland.

The report on Sunday (March 29) from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) came days after Mr. Kim delivered a speech at North Korea’s Parliament pledging to irreversibly cement his country’s status as a nuclear power and accusing the U.S. of global “state terrorism and aggression,” in an apparent reference to the war in the West Asia.

Mr. Kim watched the ground jet test of the newly upgraded engine using a composite carbon fibre material, according to the KCNA, which reported the engine’s maximum thrust is 2,500 kilotons, up from about 1,971 kilotons reported in a similar solid fuel engine test in September.

A push to increase the engine power is likely associated with efforts to place multiple warheads on a single missile to increase chances of defeating US defences, observers say.

The KCNA did not report exactly when or where the test occurred.

The test was conducted as part of the country’s five-year military escalation program. The plan’s objectives include upgrading “strategic strike means,” the KCNA reported.

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The reference is understood to mean nuclear-capable, intercontinental ballistic missiles targeting the continental U.S..

Mr. Kim said the latest engine test had “great significance in putting the country’s strategic military muscle on the highest level,” the KCNA reported.

In recent years, North Korea has test-fired a variety of ICBMs demonstrating the potential range to reach the US mainland, including missiles with solid propellants that make detection prior to liftoff more difficult.

The country’s older liquid-fuel missiles must be fuelled before liftoffs and cannot last long.

Some foreign experts say North Korea still faces technological hurdles before it has a functioning ICBM, such as ensuring its warheads survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric reentry.

But others dispute that assessment given the number of years the country has spent on its nuclear and missile programs.

North Korea has pushed hard to expand its nuclear arsenal since Kim’s high-stakes diplomacy with U.S..

President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. At a ruling Workers’ Party congress in February, Mr Kim left the door open for dialogue with Mr. Trump but urged Washington to drop demands for the North’s nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks.

North Korea fired a ballistic missile in an eastward direction on Wednesday (October 22, 2025), South Korea’s military said, the North’s first weapons testing activity in about five months.

A brief statement from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff gave no further details such as how far the weapon flew.

The missiles from North Korea that were fired at around 8:10 a.m. (2300 GMT, Tuesday) on Wednesday (October 22, 2025) were short-range ones, the South Korean military said in a text message to reporters, according to Reuters.

North Korea usually test-launches missiles in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, causing no damage in neighbouring countries. But the Joint Chiefs of Staff statement only said the latest missile was launched in an eastward direction.

The launch comes days before South Korea hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference, an annual summit meant to promote economic integration and trade throughout the region. It has no military component. U.S. President Donald Trump was expected to come to Gyeongju ahead of the summit for bilateral meetings with world leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, but South Korean officials say Mr. Trump won’t likely attend the APEC’s main conference set for October 30 to November 1.

Experts earlier said North Korea could launch provocative missile tests before or during the APEC summit to underscore its commitment to being recognised as a nuclear weapons state. Experts say North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un would need that status to call for the U.N. to lift punishing economic sanctions on it.

Mr. Kim has been sharply accelerating the pace of weapons tests since since his high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with Mr. Trump fell apart in 2019 due to wrangling over U.S.-led economic sanctions on North Korea. But last month, Mr. Kim suggested he could return to talks if the U.S. drops its demand for a denuclearisation of North Korea, after Mr. Trump repeatedly expressed his hopes for a new round of diplomacy.

Earlier this month, Mr. Kim displayed a new intercontinental ballistic missile at a massive military parade in Pyongyang, with top Chinese, Russian and other leaders present. The parade, which marked the 80th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party, highlighted Mr. Kim’s growing diplomatic footing and his relentless drive to build an arsenal that could strike the U.S. and its allies. Analysts say Mr. Kim would believe an expanded nuclear arsenal would increase his leverage in potential talks with the U.S.

North Korea’s state media said the October 10 parade featured the Hwasong-20 ICBM, which it described as the country’s “most powerful nuclear strategic weapon system.” Observers said the ICBM is designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads to defeat U.S. missile defences and that North Korea could test-launch it in coming months.

Mr. Kim’s diplomatic credentials have been bolstered recently. He took centre stage with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Beijing military parade last month. Mr. Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung have also repeatedly expressed hopes to meet Mr. Kim as he flaunts a provocative nuclear programme.